Posters of Indian Air Force at Jamshedpur Co-operative College on Friday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

East Singhbhum district, along with Naxalite-hit Khunti, has the lowest representation in the Indian Air Force (IAF). But that trend is set to change with Jamshedpur gearing up to host its first-ever IAF recruitment rally for filling up vacancies of technical grade airmen this month.

The recruitment drive for both East Singhbhum and Khunti will be conducted by Airmen Selection Centre (ASC) of Air Force Station, Patna-Bihar, at Jamshedpur Co-operative College from December 10 to 13. The registration process for candidates from East Singhbhum will be held at the college’s multi-purpose examination hall on Saturday. Job-seekers from Khunti can registered themselves at the same venue on Sunday.

Speaking to The Telegraph, additional district magistrate (law and order), East Singhbhum, Ajit Shanker who will be co-ordinating the recruitment rally with IAF officials, said: “The annual statistics on representation of various districts of states say that East Singhbhum and Khunti feature among the lowest. This has prompted the IAF to conduct a recruitment rally for technical grades in East Singhbhum for both the districts.”

A recruitment officer from ASC, Patna, added on condition of anonymity that due to logistic reasons, they decided to conduct the recuitment rally for both the districts at one place. “We have information that Khunti is a Maoist bastion. Since we were conducting a rally in East Singhbhum, we decided to provide an opportunity to Khunti aspirants for IAF there only. Khunti also has low representation in IAF,” said the official.

In 2011, a similar recruitment rally for technical grade airmen was held at Ranchi.

As for the proposed event, a 70-member team from ASC, Patna, has already arrived in the city to ensure smooth conduct of the rally, which is expected to draw more than 1,000 candidates.

The written exam for East Singhbhum will be held on December 12. Those shortlisted will have to appear for a physical fitness test on the same day. Only those who clear both written and fitness tests will be called for a medical test and interview on December 13.

Similarly, candidates from Khunti will have to take the written and physical fitness tests on December 10. The shortlisted will be summoned for a medical test and interview on December 11.

“Only those who were born between January 1, 1992, and March 31, 1996, and have passed intermediate with physics, mathematics and science with 50 per cent aggregate marks or holding diploma in electronics are eligible for registration. Candidates will have to show proof of their residence,” said the official.

The selected candidates will undergo three-month training at Belgaum, Karnataka. They will be paid a probationary amount of Rs 8,550 per month. Once the probation period is over, they will draw a salary of Rs 21,414 to Rs 27,788 per month.